


Sing A Little Song For Me

by Ccaprico



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: F/M, Fluff, One Shot, Singing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-29
Updated: 2017-12-29
Packaged: 2019-02-23 16:31:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,333
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13194078
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ccaprico/pseuds/Ccaprico
Summary: Hunk was the first to bring it up, and now Allura won't leave it alone.Or, Allura doesn't know what singing is, and Shiro has a surprisingly nice voice.





	Sing A Little Song For Me

The word was brought up by Hunk.

Allura offered to help him in the kitchen – or, her equivalent of helping. It was really just doing the dishes as they came, partially because she was one of the only ones who knew where everything went, and partially because she and food didn’t mix well. Hunk had put the cookies in the oven when the conversation turned to ‘home.’

It was still a rough topic for both of them, but talking made it seem like it was a vacation away, instead of one being on the other side of the universe and the other existing in a long-forgotten time.  Reminiscing helped.

Hunk sighed, putting his head into his crossed arms on the table. “Okay, music.”

Allura hummed. It was a good topic to pick. “The Hungari flute festival - their music was to die for. My father and I used to make it every deca-phoeb.”

She wasn’t expecting Hunk to know what any of it meant, just like he didn’t expect her to know everything about earth. He still let out a hum of acknowledgement, shifting in his seat. “I miss Lorde.”

Allura blinked. “Lorde? The social position?”

Hunk smiled, laughing slightly. “No – Lorde. With an E.”

A strange name for a musician, but she wasn’t about to judge. Shiro told her about much odder things from earth than the names of their artists. “What instrument does she play?”

Hunk considered the question. “Mostly singing, I think. She might play some instruments as well, but if she does, I don’t know what they are.”

Allura blinked. “Singing? What kind of instrument is that?”

For a moment, Hunk didn’t answer. He sat up for his leant position on the table, staring at Allura with a raised brow. “Very funny.”

Allura stared at him. “What is?” Nothing about the question seemed ‘funny.’ Was it some other name for a common instrument that she didn’t know?

“Singing? You know - with your voice?” He blinked, looking more curious than annoyed. At least she hadn’t offended with her lacking knowledge. “What do Alteans call it?”

 “None. I have no idea what you’re talking about.” She scoffed, murmuring to herself. “Music with your voice? I’ve never heard of such a thing.”

Hunk’s look shifted from curious to confused, masked beneath a furrowed brow. “You’re kidding, right?”

Allura shook her head.

“You’ve – wow, uh – that sucks.” Hunk scratched the back of his neck. “I’d demonstrate to you, but I really suck at it. It might put you off. But it’s great – it’s like – uh –“

“Don’t worry about it,” Allura waved him off with a smile. “I’ll take your word for it.”

It seemed like the end of the topic, and they moved onto sports instead. But Allura hadn’t dropped it. ‘Singing’ sounded... odd. Making music from your voice was unheard of on Altea – or any of the other planets she visited - and Hunk’s description wasn’t exactly filling in all the gaps. She _had_ to know what it was, if only for her curiosity.

The timer on the oven went, and the thought was pushed to the back of her mind when the sweet smell of biscuits wafted through the kitchen.

 

* * *

 

 

Pidge was no help in defining the term ‘singing.’ With her eyes drooping and shadows beneath her eyes even darker than usual, Allura ordered her to go back to sleep.

She watched as Pidge made her way back, sighing to herself.

 

* * *

 

 

Allura stared at the blue and red paladins, waiting for one of them to answer.

“Well? What is singing?”

“What?” Keith looked at her as though she had grown a second head, his eyes wide and mouth gaping.

“Singing,” Allura repeated. “What is it? Hunk talked about it earlier. We don’t have… singing, on our planet. I was wondering what it was.”

“Seriously?” Lance perked up, broken from his stupor. “You’ve never heard singing before?”

Allura shook her head. “It must be something unique to humans. I’ve never heard of anything about ‘singing’ before – in any alien cultures.”

The pair stared at her from their spots on the sofa, glancing at each other and the princess.

Maybe it _was_ a personal question.

“I meant no disrespect,” she said quickly. “If there are laws forbidding you to speak about it, please do not break them for me.”

Lance looked even more confused than usual. “Laws... forbidding... huh?”

“Out of all the planets you’ve been to, and not one of them had the capacity to sing?” Keith huffed, falling back into his sear. “That’s ridiculous.”

“Yeah, ridiculous,” Lance murmured.

“It must be something unique to humans,” she repeated. That was the only explanation that made sense, at least. “And it is all well and good acting like it’s the strangest thing out there, but what is it? You’re making it sound like some kind of heathen ritual. Is it dangerous?”

“Is it... dangerous?” Lance choked, before bursting into laughter. “‘course not!  It’s like talking, but different.”

Allura bit her lip. That didn’t help anything. “Different how?”

“You vary your tone of voice when speaking,” said Keith, glancing at the princess. “Can’t you guys do that?”

“In speech, of course,” said Allura. “But I’ve never tried it as this ‘singing’ you humans do. Can all earthlings sing?”

Lance nodded. “It’s kind of like this – _AHHH_!“

A high-pitched and screeching noise came from Lance’s throat, somehow filling the entire room. Her hands clamped down against her ears to stop her eardrums from bursting, and she caught Keith doing the same.

The noise only lasted for a few seconds, but it was enough to put Allura off for eternity. “It sounds terrible! Why would you miss such a thing?”

“It’s not supposed to sound like that!” Keith snapped, shooting Lance a scowl. “Lance is just awful at it!”

“I didn’t see you jumping at the opportunity. You’re probably worse than me!”

“No-one it worse than you. Trust me.”

“So it’s a skill?” Allura cut in. Their fight could wait until after she got her answers. “Must you practice it before you sound good?”

“It’s more like a natural talent,” Keith said.

A natural talent?

Her brow furrowed. “I’m confused. All humans have the ability to sing, but not all of them are good at singing?” She got a nod in response. “Then… what makes one good at singing? Is there a specific soundwave that causes some kind of neural response? Is it something else?”

Allura wasn’t the only one confused, if Keith and Lance’s expressions were anything to go by.

“I’ve never really thought about it before,” said Keith, scratching the side of his head. “Never really care, either.”

“I guess it just sounds nice. It’s really relaxing,” said Lance, before correcting himself. “You can also get these really heavy metal singers that make you feel pumped, and then there are some that can make you sad – “

“So they stimulate emotions?” Allura stared at them. Soundwaves could simulate neural pathways and elicit physical responses, just like the sounds the Bahlr harp made. She understood that… but only with their voice? How strange.

“I guess for some people that’s true.” He didn’t sound sure.

“But not all?”

“Well, no - everyone’s different.” Lance scratched the back of his head. “Urgh, you’re making me doubt everything!”

Lance groaned, slipping further down the sofa, mumbling something under his breath. Something about how aliens always over-complicate things…?

Keith coughed next to him, more amused than anything else. “I think you broke him.”

Allura blinked. "I think I did.”

“Maybe you should talk to Shiro,” he said, helping Lance into an upright position. “He’d be pretty good at explaining things. Better than us, at least. You might even hear some proper singing.”

“So Shiro is good at singing?”

That didn’t come as a surprise in the slightest. Shiro was always one to excel in everything he did, and his voice _did_ hold a relaxing tone to it. Maybe singing was like listening to Shiro, only more relaxing?

“He’s definitely not bad,” said Keith. “A lot better than this moron. For someone who doesn’t make a living off it, he’s pretty good.”

Allura hummed, contemplating what she learned. “So, singing isn’t supposed to sound like screaming?”

“Not in the slightest.”

That was good to hear. “Thank you, I guess I’ll - uh – be going now.”

She disappeared from the room before Keith and Lance began arguing, heading toward the control centre. It was time to find the black paladin.

 

* * *

 

 

Shiro wasn’t on the bridge, nor was he in the training area or the dining room.

After a dobosh she gave up looking on the lower levels and went to the bridge, using heat signatures to locate everyone on board the castle. Hunk, Keith and Lance were where she left them, and Pidge was thankfully still in bed. There was a single, glimmering dot in the engine room, most likely Coran working on updating the thrusters, and one on the observation deck.

So that’s where Shiro was.

The elevator dinged when she reached the top level, opening to the round room. He sat on one of the many sofas, his posture relaxed and his gaze aimed upwards, to the stars. She’d only seen him this relaxed on his own, when the weight of responsibility no longer fell on his shoulders. It was one of the many things they could relate to.

He noticed her just after she decided to come back later and not disturb one of his few and far between breaks, a smile breaking out onto his face, and she knew she couldn’t leave.

Not that she wanted to– at all.

“I didn’t mean to interrupt,” she said quickly, in way of greeting. She cleared her throat. “What were you doing?”

“Just looking at the stars,” he said. “You’re welcome to join if you have time.”

She did, finding herself next to him in a moment, curling into the soft cushions and warmth at her side. It was their sanctuary from the noise of their responsibilities, from the paladins and the universe. No-one but them came up here.

Time passed in a daze. They stayed in silence until Allura remembered why she came in the first place, perking up from the position on the seat.

“Shiro.” He hummed in response, turning to show he was listening. “What’s singing?”

“Singing?”

 “I’ve never heard of it before today,” said Allura. “Altean’s don’t have it, and I’ve never heard anything like Keith and Lance described. All they did was confuse me. What is it?”

Shiro laughed, a low rumble in the pit of his chest - not that she expected anything else. He really _did_ have a nice voice, one that worked a flush on to her face and butterflies into her stomach.

“You want an example, or a definition?”

“Both,” she said, clearing her throat. “Keith said you were good at it, unlike Lance.”

Another chuckle. Were the tips of his ears red? Maybe she wasn’t the only one embarrassed, though for very different reasons. “Why am I not surprised...?”

She almost missed it. “It sounded terrible. I’ve heard screaming gorgyles better than him, and then Keith told me to come to you, because apparently it’s supposed to sound a lot better than Lance.”

“It’s definitely not supposed to sound like screaming - that’s for sure,” he agreed, before sighing. “But I don’t know if I’ll do any better. It’s been a while.”

“I’m sure it’ll be fine - And if not, I promise not to laugh.”

“How kind of you.” Shiro chuckled, sitting up from his slouched position. “Should I expect anything else instead?”

“I try,” Allura smiled, her face burning even more. “But mocking isn’t off the table.”

Only Shiro seemed to have this effect on her - to bring her walls of leadership crumbing down with a couple of words, to bring out the younger side of her. They were both wise beyond their years, but in this moment, it didn’t matter.

Shiro grinned, shaking his head. “I did warn you,” he said, before taking a deep breath, and –

Sung.

Huh.

Suddenly, Keith and Lance’s difficulty in defining made sense. Shiro wasn’t saying the words, but neither was he following the tone of a musical instrument. The baritone of his voice was calming, deeper than he usually spoke, but jumped up and down at a moment’s notice.

They were right – Shiro did have a good voice.

Allura closed her eyes, allowing the noise to flow across her like waves against sand. She couldn’t make out the meaning of the words, or if Shiro was even speaking in a language at all, but it didn’t matter. She was content with the answer.

It seemed like Shiro had only just begun before it ended. There was a moment of silence, and then a laugh. “Did you fall asleep on me?”

Her eyes fluttered open, coming face-to-face with Shiro’s, and – she had her head on his shoulder.

_Quiznack_.

She took it as a good sign that he didn’t push her off. Any other time she would be embarrassed, but not this time. She stayed there, admiring the shade of his eyes, the hard muscles beneath her cheek, the warmth in his smile.

“That was nice,” she said at last, and he laughed.

“Just nice?”

“No.” It felt like an understatement, one that didn’t show how much she enjoyed the lilt of his voice and the rumble of his chords. “Really nice. You have a lovely voice – much better than Lance, at least.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” he said, looking quietly proud. “Thanks, Allura.”

They stayed like that for a while longer. When the call from Coran came that it was dinner, she’d admit she was disappointed. She hoped she wasn’t being too forward in hoping Shiro felt the same.

“You know, if I had my guitar, I could play you a sonnet,” Shiro laughed to himself, like it was some kind of private joke that Allura didn’t get, and she blinked, watching his retreating end.

“What’s a sonnet?”

**Author's Note:**

> Again, this is one of those fanfic's that's been with me for a while now, and I only just got round to writing/editing it. I'm trying to work on the speech in my fanfics, cause I always feel it comes off a bit fake and awkward. Hopefully this is slightly better than normal! Also sorry if there are many spelling mistakes (woops).


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